In the field of industrial machinery, there exists a need for ‘dry’ air in the process of operating air driven devices, product process and fabrication, etc. in countless applications and scenarios. Air and pressurized ‘compressed’ air in particular, is laden with moisture that negatively impacts its effectiveness in the above mentioned uses and processes; making costly equipment failure and ‘befouled’ product. ‘Desiccant dryers’ are one of the prime methods that remove substantially the moisture from air for such industrial uses, thus reducing equipment failures and improving product quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,620 ('620) issued to Arno et al., teaches the use of parallel inlet ports to directly communicate with side walls of the desiccant vessel and with the interior of the desiccant bed. The system was effective in delivering purge air to the stratified regions of the desiccant bed most laden with moisture. U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,583 issued to Thelen et al., taught the use of a rotating drum and a high speed blower for boosting pressure of the regeneration exhaust stream and a gas control valve to change flow rates. The Thelen patent teaches a highly mechanical system with a series of complicated belts, motors and rotating mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,802 issued to Grgich et al., teaches an air filter affixed to a blower used to communicate with a heater, valves and desiccant bed.
None of the above approaches discloses a means for thermally balancing the vessel containing desiccant during a purge phase of regeneration; assuring that both dew point bumps and heat spikes do not develop. Further none of the above approaches sets forth a method to complete a regeneration in less time in the process. Finally, none of the prior art addresses the energy savings related to an efficient means of operating a quality air drying apparatus.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.